Hosts Shooting Stars Sports Club (3SC) of Ibadan on Wednesday lost 1-2 to Warri Wolves Football Club in a 2015/2016 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) Match Day 16 fixture.
The tension-soaked match ended in a disappointment for the home fans.
The team, after a 0-6 loss to hosts Kano Pillars in week 13, had drawn 2-2 at home with Plateau United FC of Jos in week 14.
But they had then gone on to draw 1-1 with hosts Rangers International FC last Sunday, and this had raised the fans’ hopes of an improved performance and a good result.
However, hope soon turned into disappointment after Warri Wolves scored through King Osanga and John Odumegwu in the 22nd and 64th minutes.
3SC’s Najeem Olukokun reduced the tally in the 79th minute, and there were hopes of a redemption through a penalty kick towards the end of the encounter, but Olukokun lost it.
Coach Ardsluis Dutch of Warri Wolves described the encounter as a great one, adding that his players got the good result they deserved.
He, however, said Nigerian football was not where it was supposed to be, even though the kind of talents he had seen in Nigeria could not be found elsewhere.
“Nigerian football needs a direction and that is the reason why I am here,’’ the coach said.
In his comments, coach Kadiri Ikhana of 3SC admitted that his players did not perform well in the encounter, saying the players had just returned from Enugu.
Ikhana, who told newsmen that he had just returned from sick bed, bemoaned the way the welfare of the players was being handled.
“In my 22 years of practice, I have never seen a team like this before, where players would not be paid salaries.
“Welfare is very important. Imagine a man playing so hard to earn a living and thinking about how to feed his family and pay children’s school fees. Such was very bad for a motivation,’’ he said
Ikhana however expressed the hope that the situation could be rescued with the intervention of the state government.
The coach had consistently bemoaned the non-payment of the players’ five months salaries, saying such was not good as a motivation for better performance.
The match was watched by Michael Adeyemo, the Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, some other members of the Assembly, and Soji Eniade, the State Head of Service.
